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University of Chicago Library

Guide to the Bessie Louise Pierce Papers 1839-1974

© 2006 University of Chicago Library

Descriptive Summary

Title:

Pierce, Bessie Louise. Papers

Dates:

1839-1974

Size:

17.5 linear feet (35 boxes)

Repository:

Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.

Abstract:

Bessie Louise Pierce, Professor of history, University of Chicago, 1929-53. Advisor to the W.P.A. Foreign Language Press Survey in Chicago, 1936-1940. Director of the History of Chicago Project 1929-1973. Contains correspondence, reports, manuscripts, reviews, speeches, chapter drafts from A History of Chicago, manuscripts of unpublished textbooks in history, diaries, memorabilia, photographs, and administrative records of the History of Chicago Project. Includes correspondence with publishers Alfred A. Knopf and Holt Rinehart and Winston. Other correspondents include Ray Billington, William Dodd, Charles Merriam, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Blake McKelvey, and Zane Miller. Also contains Pierce family letters and documents, 1839-1911.

Information on Use

Access

No restrictions

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Pierce, Bessie Louise. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Biographical Note

Bessie Louise Pierce, Professor of History at the University of Chicago, was born in Caro, Michigan on April 20, 1888. Her youth was spent in Waverly, Iowa, where her family moved soon after her birth and where her father operated a prosperous dry-goods business. After graduation from the University of Iowa in 1910, she taught high school in Sanborn and Mason City, Iowa before returning to the University of Iowa as instructor and head of the social studies department in its laboratory high school. Her graduate work in history began with summer courses at the University of Chicago leading to an A.M. degree in 1918, and continued with advanced studies at the University of Iowa under the direction of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. In 1923, she received her Ph.D. from Iowa and joined its department of history as an assistant professor. A further promotion to associate professor came in 1926.

While Pierce's early writing concentrated on the methodology of secondary teaching, a traditional field of interest for professional women, her work during the 1920's also reflected a growing concern with the relationship between educational policy and national ideology. In 1926, the year she was elected president of the National Council for the Social Studies, Knopf published a revision of her dissertation on the manipulation of school curricula, Public Opinion and the Teaching of History. Four years later, the University of Chicago Press issued Civic Attitudes in American School Textbooks as part of a series on civic education edited by Charles E. Merriam. A third monograph, Citizens' Organizations and the Civic Training of Youth (1933), resulted from her work on the American Historical Association's Investigation of Social Studies in the Schools. By treating issues then troubling many intellectuals, these books on propaganda and pressure groups brought Pierce national scholarly attention and secured her position in the ranks of professionals influenced by Schlesinger's new social history.

In 1929, Pierce accepted the offer of the Local Community Research Committee to come to the University of Chicago as an associate professor of history and head of the History of Chicago Project. This Project, originally conceived as a Centennial History of Chicago, was intended to integrate economic, political, and sociological studies already sponsored by the Committee and uncover new areas for further research. As recast by Pierce, the Project became a complex effort to survey all relevant historical records for a definitive four-volume account of Chicago's growth from 1673 to 1915. Working with a staff of assistants drawn from her courses in urban history, Pierce supervised a carefully organized system that directed research from the initial taking of notes and verification of facts to the writing of preliminary manuscripts and editing of final chapter drafts. Part of the accumulating material appeared in As Others See Chicago, a collection of travel accounts issued in 1933. Production of the main text was slowed by the extensive amounts of original research required, but by 1940 both Volume I and II of A History of Chicago had been published. A significant advance over previous anecdotal work on the subject, the History was the first of several city "biographies" begun during the 1930's that brought a new sophistication of treatment and accuracy of detail to the writing of urban history.

s work on the History of Chicago continued, Pierce engaged in a number of public and professional activities. She was an advisor to the W.P.A. Foreign Language Press Survey in Chicago from 1936 to 1940, and a member of the board planning Franklin Roosevelt's presidential library in Hyde Park, New York in 1939-1940. Her involvement in the American Historical Association included service on the Council and membership on two special committees recommending wartime policy on education to the federal government. In 1946, research conducted by Pierce for the Missouri Pacific and other lines in their case against the Santa Fe Railroad produced Studies on Chicago Economic History, a document submitted as evidence before the Interstate Commerce Commission and used later in the preparation of chapters on economics for Volume III of the History.

During these years, Pierce also devoted an increasing amount of time to the writing of high school and college textbooks in history, none of which was ever published. After a manuscript on martial music written with her sister failed to interest publishers, she collaborated with David Behen on a twentieth-century American history text and with Gene Lavengood on a general history of the United States. For more than fifteen years, these projects distracted her from teaching and supervision of the History of Chicago Project without producing the additional income she had hoped they would provide.

In 1953, Pierce retired from the faculty and became a professor emeritus. Funds from the Social Science Research Committee, which had supported the History of Chicago Project since 1930, were now supplemented by grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Association of University Women, the Field Foundation, the Chicago Community Trust, the Chicago Historical Society, and the Schermerhorn Charitable Trust. Volume III of the History was pressed to completion and published in 1957, but work on Volume IV suffered from reductions in the size of the staff, Pierce's advancing age, and her practice of commuting regularly between Chicago and Iowa City in order to spend as much time as possible with her sister. Despite the consolidation of Project files in Iowa City following her permanent move there in 1972, the last volume of the History remained unfinished at her death on October 3, 1974.

Scope Note

The collection has been arranged in six series:

Series 1: Personal Papers, is divided into four subseries. The first, Pierce Family Papers, consists of miscellaneous letters, deeds, and journals of various Pierce family members in Iowa, Michigan, and New York from 1839 to 1911. None of these documents contains anything written by Pierce. The second subseries, Miscellaneous Personal Correspondence, includes Pierce's correspondence with her immediate family and such personal friends as the wife and young sons of Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. The diaries which follow include two volumes containing four years of entries each and a third volume preserving Pierce's fragmentary comments on her 1934 European tour. The fourth subseries, Biographical, is a collection of material relating to Pierce's education and professional career, including records of her promotions and appointments, bibliographies of her publications, and biographical newspaper clippings. The annotated McLaughlin manuscript represents Pierce's unrealized plan to produce a revised edition for the secondary school market.

Series II: Professional Correspondence, contains the record of her relationships with professional associations, publishers, foundations, students, and colleagues. The two largest groups of correspondence are those with Alfred A. Knopf, publisher of A History of Chicago, and with Holt Rinehart, which inherited the Pierce-Behen textbook from Dryden Press and subsequently contracted to publish the Pierce-Lavengood text. Among the historians with whom she corresponded Ray Billington, William Dodd, Merle Curti, and Arthur Schlesinger were particularly close friends; her letters to them often deal with personal as well as professional matters. Of the research assistants represented, Blake McKelvey and Zane Miller became noted urban historians in their own right.

Series III contains administrative records and manuscripts produced by the History of Chicago Project from its formation in 1929 until 1973. Although Pierce received the initial offer of the Project directorship from Charles Merriam on behalf of the Local Community Research Committee, within a year of her arrival in Chicago the Social Science Research Committee had superseded the LCRC. All subsequent progress reports and requests for funds were therefore submitted to the SSRC or to its subsidiary, the Committee on the History of Chicago.

The reports, minutes, and financial statements contained in this series present a continuous record of Pierce's organization and management of the Project during its first twenty-five years. Additional material on administration during this period can be found in Pierce's professional correspondence with Merriam, the LCRC, and the SSRC in Series II.

The administrative records are followed by procedural records that include Pierce's earliest proposals for the History of Chicago, a miscellaneous group of instructions governing office operations and research methods, and a large series of research assistants' monthly reports extending from 1930 to 1972. These monthly reports are particularly valuable for the light they shed on the division of responsibilities among the student staff, the nature of sources utilized in the course of research, and the varying emphasis given different historical topics over the life of the Project.

The last section of Project records contains chapter drafts from each of the four volumes of A History of Chicago. Research for individual chapters of the History began with notes recorded by a student assistant on 5x8" sheets of paper and arranged in files according to subject. Research reports (19:12) based on these notes were then the proposed publication of Volume IV may apply to the Archivist for access to relevant letters and memoranda in the general Departmental files.

In Series IV: Other Writings, articles and essays, book reviews, and addresses and lectures listed in alphabetical order are preceded by major writings arranged chronologically. Additional information on Pierce's major writings can be found in her professional correspondence with publishers and co-authors in Series II.

Series V contains memorabilia and photographs. Among several honors bestowed on Pierce following her retirement in 1953 were an honorary degree from Northwestern University and a Medal of Merit from the City of Chicago. The photographs of Pierce and her family number more than 500; these have been arranged by name or date where possible, but many remain unidentified. Additional photographs of Pierce are held in the Archival Photofiles.

Series VI: Addenda, contains a small amount of correspondence and material related to A History of Chicago.

Related Resources

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Subject Headings

INVENTORY

Series I: Personal Papers

Subseries 1: Pierce Family Papers, 1839-1911

Box 1   Folder 1

Family correspondence, 1839-1849

Box 1   Folder 2

Family correspondence, 1850-1859

Box 1   Folder 3

Family correspondence, 1860-1869

Box 1   Folder 4

Family correspondence, 1870-1879

Box 1   Folder 5

Family correspondence, 1880-1889

Box 1   Folder 6

Family correspondence, 1890-1899

Box 1   Folder 7

Family correspondence, 1900-1911

Box 1   Folder 8

Deeds, 1853-1879

Box 1   Folder 9

Diaries and account books, 1853-1867

Box 1   Folder 10

Diaries and account books, 1869-1871

Box 1   Folder 11

Diaries and account books, 1881-1893

Subseries 2: Miscellaneous Personal Correspondence

Box 2   Folder 1

Pierce, Clifton J. (father)

Box 2   Folder 2

Pierce, Minnie C. (mother)

Box 2   Folder 3

Pierce, Anne E. (sister)

Box 2   Folder 4

Pierce, Effie (aunt)

Box 2   Folder 5

Dodd, Mrs. William E.

Box 2   Folder 6

Schlesinger, Elizabeth B.

Box 2   Folder 7

Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr.

Box 2   Folder 8

Schlesinger, Thomas B.

Box 2   Folder 9

Other friends, A-P

Box 2   Folder 10

R-W and unnamed

Subseries 3: Diaries

Box 3   Folder 1

1901

Box 3   Folder 2

1918-1922

Box 3   Folder 3

1923-1926

Box 3   Folder 4

July-August 1934

Box 3   Folder 5

1953, 1954, 1955

Box 3   Folder 6

1956, 1958, 1959

Box 3   Folder 7

1960, 1961, 1962

Box 3   Folder 8

1963, 1964, 1965

Box 3   Folder 9

1966, 1967, 1968

Box 4   Folder 1

1969

Box 4   Folder 2

1970

Box 4   Folder 3

1971

Box 4   Folder 4

1972

Box 4   Folder 5

1973

Box 4   Folder 6

1974

Subseries 4: Biographical

Box 5   Folder 1

Birth and baptismal certificates

Box 5   Folder 2

Brief biographical accounts

Box 5   Folder 3

"The American Flag," oration, [1904?]

Box 5   Folder 4

"Socialism," oration, [1904?]

Box 5   Folder 5

"Resolved that Foreign Skilled Labor Should Be Kept Out of the U.," debate speech, March 25, 1904

Box 5   Folder 6

"Seek What Thou Hast Not," high school commencement oration, 1905

Box 5   Folder 7

College scrapbook, 1908-1910

Box 5   Folder 8

"Notes from Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. courses, 1920-1922

Box 6   Folder 1

Major examination (written) for Ph.D., August 1922

Box 6   Folder 2

A History of the American Nation, by Andrew C. McLaughlin, typescript with notations by BLP, [1928-1929]

Box 6   Folder 3

Report cards, transcripts, and letters of recommendation

Box 6   Folder 4

Notices of academic appointments

Box 6   Folder 5

Syllabi and exams from history courses given by BLP

Box 6   Folder 6

Lists of theses completed by History of Chicago Project research assistants

Box 6   Folder 7

Bibliographies of BLP publications

Box 6   Folder 8

Remarks of James L. Cate at a farewell dinner for BLP, November 21, 1972

Box 6   Folder 9

Comments given at a memorial service for BLP, Bond Chapel, University of Chicago, November 1, 1974

Box 6   Folder 10

Newspaper clippings (BLP biographical), 1910-1929

Box 6   Folder 11

Newspaper clippings (BLP biographical), 1929-1945

Box 6   Folder 12

Newspaper clippings (BLP biographical), 1945-1974

Series II: Professional Correspondence

Box 7   Folder 1

A, general

Box 7   Folder 2

American Association of University Women

Box 7   Folder 3

American Historical Association, general

Box 7   Folder 4

American Historical Association, Commission on the Social Studies (Investigation of the Social Studies in the Schools)

Box 7   Folder 5

American Historical Association, Committee of Ten on Organization and Policy

Box 7   Folder 6

American Historical Association, Committee on Appointments

Box 7   Folder 7

American Historical Association, Committee on General Education for the Armed Services

Box 7   Folder 8

American Historical Association, Committee on History in the Colleges

Box 7   Folder 9

American Historical Association, Committee on Local Arrangements, 1941

Box 7   Folder 10

American Historical Association, Council

Box 8   Folder 1

American Historical Association, Editorial Board, Social Education

Box 8   Folder 2

American Historical Association, Executive Committee

Box 8   Folder 3

American Historical Association, Nominating Committee

Box 8   Folder 4

Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. (includes Century Co., D. Appleton & Co., and D. Appleton-Century Co.)

Box 8   Folder 5

B, general

Box 8   Folder 6

Barnes, Viola F.

Box 8   Folder 7

Beard, Charles

Box 8   Folder 8

Behen, David M.

Box 8   Folder 9

Billington, Ray A.

Box 8   Folder 10

C, general

Box 8   Folder 11

Caldwell, Otis W.

Box 9   Folder 1

Chicago Community Trust

Box 9   Folder 2

Chicago Historical Society (includes Paul M. Angle)

Box 9   Folder 3

Commission on Chicago Historical and Architectural Landmarks,Advisory Committee

Box 9   Folder 4

Craven, Avery O.

Box 9   Folder 5

Crofts, F. S. & Co.

Box 9   Folder 6

Curti, Merle

Box 9   Folder 7

Curti

Box 9   Folder 8

D, general

Box 9   Folder 9

Dawson, Edgar

Box 9   Folder 10

Dodd, William E.

Box 10   Folder 1

Dryden Press

Box 10   Folder 2

E

Box 10   Folder 3

F

Box 10   Folder 4

G, general

Box 10   Folder 5

Gambrill, J. Montgomery

Box 10   Folder 6

Ginn and Co.

Box 10   Folder 7

Gorman, John J.

Box 10   Folder 8

Gottschalk, Louis

Box 10   Folder 9

Guggenheim Foundation

Box 11   Folder 1

Box 11   Folder 2

H, general

Box 11   Folder 3

Harris, Chauncy

Box 11   Folder 4

Holt, Reinhart and Winston, Inc. (includes Henry Holt)

Box 11   Folder 5

Holt, Reinhart and Winston, Inc. (includes Henry Holt)

Box 11   Folder 6

Holt, Reinhart and Winston, Inc. (includes Henry Holt)

Box 11   Folder 7

Hutchinson, William T.

Box 11   Folder 8

I

Box 11   Folder 9

J

Box 12   Folder 1

K, general

Box 12   Folder 2

Knopf, Alfred A., Inc. (includes Alfred A. Knopf)

Box 12   Folder 3

Knopf, Alfred A., Inc. (includes Alfred A. Knopf)

Box 12   Folder 4

Knopf, Alfred A., Inc. (includes Alfred A. Knopf)

Box 12   Folder 5

Knopf, Alfred A., Inc. (includes Alfred A. Knopf)

Box 12   Folder 6

Koelsch, William A.

Box 12   Folder 7

Kogan, Herman

Box 12   Folder 8

L, general

Box 13   Folder 1

Lavengood, Lawrence Gene

Box 13   Folder 2

Lavengood, Lawrence Gene

Box 13   Folder 3

Local Community Research Committee

Box 13   Folder 4

M, general

Box 13   Folder 5

Macmillan Co.

Box 13   Folder 6

McGee, Gale W.

Box 13   Folder 7

McKelvey, Blake

Box 13   Folder 8

McLaughlin, Andrew C.

Box 13   Folder 9

Merriam, Charles E.

Box 13   Folder 10

Merriam, Charles E.

Box 13   Folder 11

Miller, Zane

Box 13   Folder 12

Missouri Pacific Railroad (includes Callaway & Reed)

Box 14   Folder 1

N, general

Box 14   Folder 2

National Council for the Social Studies

Box 14   Folder 3

Newberry Library (includes Stanley Pargellis)

Box 14   Folder 4

Norris, Joe L.

Box 14   Folder 5

O

Box 14   Folder 6

P

Box 14   Folder 7

Q

Box 14   Folder 8

R, general

Box 14   Folder 9

Redfield, Robert

Box 14   Folder 10

Roosevelt Library, Franklin D.

Box 14   Folder 11

Root, W. T.

Box 15   Folder 1

S, general

Box 15   Folder 2

Schermerhorn Charitable Trust (includes Mrs. C. Phillip Miller)

Box 15   Folder 3

Schlesinger, Arthur M., Sr.

Box 15   Folder 4

Schlesinger, Arthur M., Sr.

Box 15   Folder 5

Schlesinger, Arthur M., Sr.

Box 15   Folder 6

Social Science Division, Dean, Committee on Selection of, 1947

Box 15   Folder 7

Social Science Research Committee

Box 15   Folder 8

Social Science Research Committee

Box 16   Folder 1

Social Science Research Council

Box 16   Folder 2

Still, Bayrd

Box 16   Folder 3

T

Box 16   Folder 4

U, general

Box 16   Folder 5

University of Chicago Press

Box 16   Folder 6

V

Box 16   Folder 7

W, general

Box 16   Folder 8

White, Leonard D.

Box 16   Folder 9

Wiltsee, Herbert

Box 16   Folder 10

Wirth, Louis

Box 16   Folder 11

Works Progress Administration, Foreign Language Project (includes Foreign Language Press Survey)

Box 16   Folder 12

Y-Z

Series III: History of Chicago Project

Subseries 1: Historical

Box 17   Folder 1

Histories of the Project

Box 17   Folder 2

Prospectuses

Box 17   Folder 3

Report to the Social Science Research Council, February 19, 1931

Box 17   Folder 4

Reports to the Social Science Research Committee, 1929-1931

Box 17   Folder 5

Reports to the Social Science Research Committee, 1932-1934

Box 17   Folder 6

Reports to the Social Science Research Committee, June 1935

Box 17   Folder 7

Reports to the Social Science Research Committee, 1936-1943

Box 17   Folder 8

Reports to the Social Science Research Committee, 1944-1945

Box 17   Folder 9

Reports to the Social Science Research Committee, 1948-1955

Box 17   Folder 11

Reports to the Social Science Research Committee, January 9, 1956

Box 17   Folder 12

Reports to the Social Science Research Committee, 1957-1960

Box 17   Folder 13

Committee on the History of Chicago, minutes, 1930-1946

Subseries 2: Financial

Box 17   Folder 14

Project financial statements, 1930-1931

Box 17   Folder 15

Project financial statements, 1932

Box 17   Folder 16

Project financial statements, 1933-1934

Box 17   Folder 17

Project financial statements, 1935-1939

Box 18   Folder 1

Project financial statements, 1940-1943

Box 18   Folder 2

Project financial statements, 1944-1949

Box 18   Folder 3

Project financial statements, 1971-1973

Box 18   Folder 4

Requests for funds to complete Volume IV, 1964

Subseries 3: Procedural

Box 18   Folder 5

"Possible Procedures for Writing a History of Chicago," [1929]

Box 18   Folder 6

"An Outline for the History of Chicago," January, 1930

Box 18   Folder 7

"Proposed Plan for the History of Chicago," February, 1930

Box 18   Folder 8

Bibliographies of books and periodicals on Chicago history

Box 18   Folder 9

Project research assistants, lists

Box 18   Folder 10

Recommendations for appointments of research assistants, 1941-1945

Box 18   Folder 11

Instructions to research assistants

Box 18   Folder 12

Instructions to research assistants

Box 18   Folder 13

Research assistants’ monthly reports, 1930-1933

Box 19   Folder 1

Research assistants’ monthly reports, 1934-1939

Box 19   Folder 2

Research assistants’ monthly reports, 1940-1949

Box 19   Folder 3

Research assistants’ monthly reports, 1950-1955

Box 19   Folder 4

Research assistants’ monthly reports, 1956-1959

Box 19   Folder 5

Research assistants’ monthly reports, 1960-1969

Box 19   Folder 6

Research assistants’ monthly reports, 1970-1972

Subseries 4: Manuscripts and Reviews of A History of Chicago

Box 19   Folder 7

Volume I (1937), list of research file folder headings

Box 19   Folder 8

Volume I (1937), Chapter 1, draft

Box 19   Folder 9

Volume I (1937), Chapter 5, draft

Box 19   Folder 10

Volume I (1937), Chapter 6, first draft by Joe Norris

Box 19   Folder 11

Volume I (1937), Chapter 6, second draft

Box 19   Folder 12

Volume I (1937), Chapter 7, preliminary report by C. M. Destler, facts not yet verified

Box 20   Folder 1

Volume I (1937), Chapter 7, draft

Box 20   Folder 2

Volume I (1937), Chapter 8, draft

Box 20   Folder 3

Volume I (1937), Chapter 10, draft

Box 20   Folder 4

Volume I (1937), reviews of volume

Box 20   Folder 5

Volume II (1940), Chapter 8, draft

Box 20   Folder 6

Volume II (1940), Chapter 10, preliminary report

Box 20   Folder 7

Volume II (1940), Chapter 10, draft

Box 20   Folder 8

Volume II (1940), Chapter 11, first draft

Box 20   Folder 9

Volume II (1940), second draft

Box 20   Folder 10

Volume II (1940), reviews of volume

Box 21   Folder 1

Volume III (1957), outline

Box 21   Folder 2

Volume III (1957), Chapter 6, draft

Box 21   Folder 3

Volume III (1957), Chapter 7, draft

Box 21   Folder 4

Volume III (1957), Chapter 8, draft, proofread by BLP, Joe Norris, and BLP’s English reader

Box 21   Folder 5

Volume III (1957), Chapter 10, draft by BLP, checked by Ralph Tingley

Box 21   Folder 6

Volume III (1957), reviews of volume

Box 21   Folder 7

Volume IV (unpublished), outlines and topics

Box 21   Folder 8

Volume IV (unpublished), inventory of notes in files, January 1956

Box 21   Folder 9

Volume IV (unpublished), list of research manuscripts

Box 22   Folder 1

Volume IV (unpublished), miscellaneous inventories of manuscripts and notes

Box 22   Folder 2

Volume IV (unpublished), bibliography

Box 22   Folder 3

Volume IV (unpublished), "Chicago’s Grain Trade: 1893-1915," chapter draft prepared by research assistants under direction of Jessie Sue Bynum, [undated]

Box 22   Folder 4

Volume IV (unpublished), "Chicago as a Livestock and Meat Packing Center, 1893-1915," chapter draft by Jessie Sue Bynum, [undated]

Box 22   Folder 5

Volume IV (unpublished), "Manufacturing," chapter draft by Ralph Tingley, 1958

Box 22   Folder 6

Volume IV (unpublished), "Banking," chapter draft by E. O. Elsasser, 1959

Box 22   Folder 7

Volume IV (unpublished), "Chicago’s Government: Form and Function," chapter draft by Alan Bliss, 1938

Box 23   Folder 1

Volume IV (unpublished), "The Government of Chicago, 1893 to 1915," chapter draft by Jerome E. Edwards, 1961

Box 23   Folder 2

Volume IV (unpublished), "Modernizing Urban Government," chapter draft by William A. Koelsch, 1973

Box 23   Folder 3

Volume IV (unpublished), "Politics," chapter draft by Ralph Tingley, 1962

Box 23   Folder 4

Volume IV (unpublished), "Reforming Chicago’s Politics," chapter draft by William A. Koelsch, 1973

Box 23   Folder 5

Volume IV (unpublished), "Shaping Chicago’s Culture," chapter draft by William A. Koelsch, 1973

Box 23   Folder 6

Volume IV (unpublished), "Religion and Humanitariamism in Chicago, 1893-1915," chapter draft by BLP, assisted by Gene Lavengood and Herbert Wiltsee; verified and additional material supplied by Perry Duis, [undated]

Series IV: Other Writings

Subseries 1: Major Works

Sub-Subseries 1: Influences Affecting the Teaching of the Social Sciences in the Public Schools (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Iowa, 1923)

Box 24   Folder 1

Draft, with handwritten notations by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr.

Box 24   Folder 2

Final version

Sub-Subseries 2: Public Opinion and the Teaching of History in the United States (1926)

Box 24   Folder 3

Reviews

Sub-Subseries 3: "Civics," in Milo B. Hillegas, ed., The Classroom Teacher, Volume 11 (1927), written with Howard C. Hill

Box 24   Folder 4

Who’s Who in the Classroom Teacher (prospectus)

Box 24   Folder 5

Chapter 3, draft

Box 24   Folder 6

Chapter 5, draft

Box 24   Folder 7

Chapter 6, draft

Box 24   Folder 8

Chapter 7, draft

Sub-Subseries 4: Civic Attitudes in American School Textbooks (1930)

Box 24   Folder 9

Reviews

Sub-Subseries 5: As Others See Chicago (1933)

Box 25   Folder 1

Research assistant’s reports, 1931

Box 25   Folder 2

List of excerpts from travel accounts

Box 25   Folder 3

Notes and material not used, Part III

Box 25   Folder 4

Notes and material not used, part IV

Box 25   Folder 5

Reviews

Box 25   Folder 6

Outlines for a proposed revised edition, prepared by Perry Duis, 1967

Box 25   Folder 7

BLP suggestions and assistants’ reports for revised edition, 1967

Box 25   Folder 8

Chapter draft for revised edition, by Perry Duis, 1967

Box 25   Folder 9

Excerpts from travel accounts for use in revised edition

Sub-Subseries 6: Citizens’ Organizations and the Civic Training of Youth (1933)

Box 25   Folder 10

Suggestions for research

Box 25   Folder 11

Bibliography

Box 25   Folder 12

List of propaganda organizations

Box 25   Folder 13

Reviews

Sub-Subseries 7: "The Fabric of Chicago’s Early Society," in Avery O. Craven, ed., Essays in Honor of William E. Dodd (1935)

Box 25   Folder 14

Draft

Box 25   Folder 15

Review

Sub-Subseries 8: Our Wars and Their Songs [1943, unpublished], written with Anne E. Pierce

Box 25   Folder 16

"The War for Independence," drafts

Box 25   Folder 17

"Trouble with France and War with Tripoli," draft

Box 25   Folder 18

"The War of 1812," drafts

Box 25   Folder 19

"War with Mexico," draft

Box 25   Folder 20

"The Civil War," drafts

Box 25   Folder 21

"The War with Spain," draft

Box 25   Folder 22

"The First World War," drafts

Box 25   Folder 23

"The Second World War," drafts

Sub-Subseries 9: Studies on Chicago Economic History (1946)

Box 26   Folder 1

Receipts and payroll for research

Box 26   Folder 2

Instructions to research assistants

Box 26   Folder 3

Testimony before the Interstate Commerce Commission, December 2, 1946

Box 26   Folder 4

Typescript copy with hand-colored maps

Box 26   Folder 5

Printed copy

Sub-Subseries 10: Twentieth Century American History [1950-1954, unpublished], written with David M. Behen

Box 26   Folder 6

Outline of book

Box 26   Folder 7

Outline of chapters

Box 26   Folder 8

Critique of Behen draft by BLP

Box 27   Folder 1

Part I, Chapter 1, draft

Box 27   Folder 2

Part I, chapter 2, draft

Box 27   Folder 3

Part II, Chapter 2, draft

Box 27   Folder 4

Part II, Chapter 4, draft

Box 27   Folder 5

Part II, Chapter 6, draft

Box 27   Folder 6

Part II, Chapter 7, draft

Box 27   Folder 7

Part III, Chapter 1, draft

Box 27   Folder 8

Part III, Chapter 6, draft

Box 27   Folder 9

Part III, Chapter 8, draft

Sub-Subseries 11: The American Experience [1954-1967, unpublished], written with Lawrence Gene Lavengood

Box 27   Folder 10

Book and chapter outlines; preface

Box 27   Folder 11

Chapter 18, draft

Box 27   Folder 12

Chapter 19, draft

Subseries 2: Articles and Essays

Box 27   Folder 13

"Aids in High School History Teaching," 1921.

Box 27   Folder 14

"Anna Eleanor Roosevelt," [1940].

Box 27   Folder 15

"Anton Joseph Cermak," 1941.

Box 27   Folder 16

"Attacks upon History Textbooks," [undated].

Box 27   Folder 17

Attempts to Control the Teaching of History in the Schools. (1925).

Box 27   Folder 18

"Bessie Louise Pierce Recalls Exciting Days When Chicago Was Nation’s Literary Capital," 1942.

Box 27   Folder 19

"Bessie Pierce Sketches Chicago’s Literary History to the Year ‘93," 1940.

Box 27   Folder 20

"Changing Urban Patterns in the Mississippi Valley," 1950.

Box 27   Folder 21

"Charles G. Dawes," [1940].

Box 28   Folder 1

"Chicago," 1957.

Box 28   Folder 2

"Chicago," 1962; revised version, 1967.

Box 28   Folder 3

"Chicago before the Great Fire," 1948.

Box 28   Folder 4

"Courses and Syllabi in the Social Studies," 1928.

Box 28   Folder 5

"Dramatization as an Aid in Classroom Instruction in History," 1926.

Box 28   Folder 6

"Ella Flagg Young," [1945].

Box 28   Folder 7

"Evidences of Thrift in the South during the Civil War," [undated].

Box 28   Folder 8

"An Experiment in Individual Instruction in History," 1919.

Box 28   Folder 9

"A High School Library in History," 1921.

Box 28   Folder 10

"History and Music," [undated].

Box 28   Folder 11

"History Teaching in the United States, 1827-1900," 1928.

Box 28   Folder 12

"The History We Teach," 1928.

Box 28   Folder 13

"Music Instruction in the Public Schools of the United States, 1870-1934," [undated].

Box 28   Folder 14

"New Type Tests in the Social Studies," [undated].

Box 28   Folder 15

"The Political Pattern of Some Women’s Organizations," [undated].

Box 28   Folder 16

"The Pressure on Independent Thinking," 1926.

Box 28   Folder 17

"Propaganda in Teaching the Social Studies," 1929.

Box 28   Folder 18

The Relationship of North Carolina to the Confederate Government (A.M. thesis, University of Chicago, 1918).

Box 28   Folder 19

Report on an address of Mayor Thompson, February 24, 1931.

Box 28   Folder 20

"The Rise of Chicago," 1953.

Box 28   Folder 21

"The Role of Social Studies Teachers in the Present Emergency," 1940.

Box 28   Folder 22

"The School and the Spirit of Nationalism," 1934.

Box 28   Folder 23

"A School Library in U. History," 1921.

Box 28   Folder 24

"A Select and Classified High-School Library in American History," [undated].

Box 28   Folder 25

"The Social Studies in the Eighth Grade," 1925.

Box 28   Folder 26

"The Socialized Recitation," 1920.

Box 28   Folder 27

"The Socialized Recitation in History," 1922.

Box 28   Folder 28

"Some Textbooks in History Commonly Used in Junior High Schools," 1926.

Box 28   Folder 29

"A Survey of Methods Courses in History," 1921.

Box 28   Folder 30

"A Test of Pupils’ Attitudes," [1929].

Box 29   Folder 1

"Textbooks in History for Senior High Schools," 1926.

Box 29   Folder 2

"Textbooks in Social Studies," 1926.

Box 29   Folder 3

"Textbooks in United States History," 1923.

Box 29   Folder 4

"A Topical Survey of the Relationship of the United States to Australia, China and Japan," 1927.

Box 29   Folder 5

"The United States Senate and the League of Nations," seminar paper, 1922.

Box 29   Folder 6

"The Women of Illinois," 1968.

Subseries 3: Book Reviews

Box 29   Folder 7

Addams, My Friend, Julia Lathrop, 1935. Beale, A History of Freedom of Teaching in American Schools, 1941. Bennett, The Constitution in School and College, 1935. Bonner, Medicine in Chicago, 1957.

Box 29   Folder 8

Bowen, Speeches, Addresses and Letters, 1937. Bradley, Music for the Millions, 1957. Buck and Buck, The Planting of Civilization in Western Pennsylvania, 1939. Carr, Education for World-Citizenship, 1928.

Box 29   Folder 9

Carsel, A History of the Chicago Ladies’ Garment Workers Union, 1940. Cole, The Irrepressible Conflict, 1934. Drury, Historic Midwest Houses, 1947. Drury, Old Chicago Houses, 1941; reviewed with Tallmadge, Architecture in Old Chicago, 1941.

Box 29   Folder 10

Dumond, A History of the United States, 1943. Filler, Crusaders for American Liberalism, 1939. Furfey, A History of Social Thought, 1942. Gillett, Burned Books, 1932.

Box 29   Folder 11

Goebel, A Study of Catholic Secondary Education, 1937. Goodsell, Pioneers of Women’s Education, 1931. Hazlitt, A New Constitution Now, 1942. Hubbart, The Older Middle West, 1936.

Box 29   Folder 12

Johnson, The Legal Status of Church-State Relationships, 1934. Kinsley, The Chicago Tribune, 1943-1946. Kogan and Wendt, Chicago: A Pictorial History, 1958. Kohlmeier, The Old Northwest, 1938.

Box 29   Folder 13

Langdon, Everyday Things in American Life. 1941. Leech and Carroll, Armour and His Times, 1938. Nevins and Krouts, eds., The Greater City New York, 1948. Osterweis, Three Centuries of New Haven, 1953.

Box 29   Folder 14

Patton, The Battle for Municipal Reform, 1940. Petersen, Steamboating on the Upper Mississippi, 1937. Poole, Giants Gone, 1943. Riegel, Mobilizing for Chaos, 1934.

Box 29   Folder 15

Rugg, An Introduction to American Civilization, 1929. Still, Milwaukee, 1948. Still, Mirror for Gotham, 1956. Stoker, The Schools and International Understanding, 1933.

Box 29   Folder 16

Stone, Clarence Darrow for the Defense, 1941. Syrett, The City of

  • Brooklyn, 1944. Wilson, My Memoir, 1939.

Subseries 4: Addresses and Lectures

Box 29   Folder 17

"Attempts to Control the Teaching of History in the Schools,"

  • Conference on the Teaching of History, Chicago, February 14, 1925.
Box 29   Folder 18

"Changing Urban Patterns in the Mississippi Valley," Mississippi Valley Historical Association annual meeting, Madison, WI, April 14, 1949.

Box 29   Folder 19

"Chicago: A City of Contrasts," U of C Service League, Chicago, April 16, 1962.

Box 29   Folder 20

"Chicago: 1870’s, a Silhouette," Fortnightly Club, Chicago, January 28, 1970.

Box 29   Folder 21

"Civic Attitudes in Textbooks," History Teachers’ Conference, Iowa City, February 3, 1928.

Box 29   Folder 22

"Discussion of the Papers [read by R. M. Tryon and E. M. Violette]," Conference upon Desirable Adjustments between History and the OtherSocial Studies, St. Louis, December 27, 1921.

Box 29   Folder 23

"Early Chicago: A Glimpse of 100 Years Ago," Women of the Rotary, Chicago, October 20, 1937.

Box 29   Folder 24

"A Historian Looks at Chicago," Conference for Teachers of the Social Sciences, Chicago, July 1, 1941.

Box 29   Folder 25

"How to Write a History of Chicago," U of C public lecture, Art Institute of Chicago, December 13, 1929.

Box 29   Folder 26

"International and National Viewpoints of High School Students," Southwestern Indiana Teachers’ Meeting, Evansville, Ind., October 19, 1928.

Box 30   Folder 1

"James Harvey Robinson and ‘The New History’," History 300, U of C, February 25, 1948.

Box 30   Folder 2

"Mixed Voices on Democracy," radio broadcast with Charles Merriam and Louis Wirth, U of C, November 25, 1939.

Box 30   Folder 3

"Propagandist Activities to Control History Text-Books," Political Science Club, Iowa City, December 1922.

Box 30   Folder 4

"Propagandist Activities to Control History Text-Books," [revised], National Council for the Social Studies, Cleveland, February 24, 1923.

Box 30   Folder 5

"The Rise of the American City," Social Science assembly, U of C, July 28, 1942.

Box 30   Folder 6

"Should the American Historical Association Devote More Attention to the Teaching of History?" [undated].

Box 30   Folder 7

"The Study of Urban Problems," Association of Assistant Principals, Chicago, January 18, 1941.

Box 30   Folder 8

"Teaching Modern American History: Considerations and Perplexities," 25th Annual Conference of the Teachers of History and the Social Studies in the Schools and Colleges of Iowa and Neighboring States, Iowa City, April 19, 1947.

Box 30   Folder 9

"Visual Aids in Teaching Social Studies," [undated].

Box 30   Folder 10

"Writing a History of Chicago," Illinois State Historical Society, Galesburg, Ill., May 15, 1936.

Box 30   Folder 11

"Writing the History of Chicago," Mandel Hall, U of C, April 10, 1941.

Box 30   Folder 12

Material for possible use in other lectures by BLP.

Series V: Memorabilia and Photographs

Subseries 1: Memorabilia

Box 30   Folder 13

Semi-Centennial Souvenir of Waverly, Iowa (1896)

Box 30   Folder 14

Mason City High School Year Book, 1913

Box 30   Folder 15

Mason City High School Masonian, 1916

Box 30   Folder 16

Northwestern University honorary Doctor of Letters degree, conferred June 14, 1954

Box 31   Folder 1

Chicago Medal of Merit, awarded March 4, 1959

Box 31   Folder 2

Miscellaneous memorabilia, 1888-1910

Box 31   Folder 3

Miscellaneous memorabilia, 1910-1929

Box 31   Folder 4

Miscellaneous memorabilia, 1929-1945

Box 31   Folder 5

Miscellaneous memorabilia, 1945-1974

Subseries 2: Photographs

Box 31   Folder 6

Daguerreotypes, family members, 19th century

Box 31   Folder 7

Daguerreotypes, family members, 19th century

Box 32   Folder 1

Daguerreotypes, family members, 19th century

Box 32   Folder 2

Daguerreotypes, family members, 19th century

Box 32   Folder 3

Daguerreotypes, family members, 19th century

Box 32   Folder 4

Daguerreotypes, family members, 19th century

Box 32   Folder 5

Bessie Louise Pierce, 1888-1890

Box 32   Folder 6

Bessie Louise Pierce, ca. 1894-1905

Box 32   Folder 7

Bessie Louise Pierce, 1905-1910

Box 32   Folder 8

Bessie Louise Pierce, 1905-1910

Box 33   Folder 1

Bessie Louise Pierce, college graduation, 1910

Box 33   Folder 2

Bessie Louise Pierce, ca. 1911-1929

Box 33   Folder 3

Bessie Louise Pierce, ca. 1911-1929

Box 33   Folder 4

Bessie Louise Pierce, ca. 1930-1974

Box 33   Folder 5

Bessie and Anne Pierce, ca. 1889-1896

Box 33   Folder 6

Bessie and Anne Pierce, ca. 1900-1930

Box 33   Folder 7

Anne E. Pierce, ca. 1895-1905

Box 33   Folder 8

Anne E. Pierce, ca. 1905-1915

Box 33   Folder 9

Anne E. Pierce, ca. 1915-1965

Box 34   Folder 1

Clifton J. Pierce (father)

Box 34   Folder 2

Minnie C. Pierce (mother)

Box 34   Folder 3

Celista B. Pierce (paternal grandmother)

Box 34   Folder 4

Della, Lila, and Effie Pierce

Box 34   Folder 5

Other Pierce family members

Box 34   Folder 6

Other Pierce family members

Box 34   Folder 7

Other Pierce family members

Box 34   Folder 8

Other Pierce family members

Box 34   Folder 9

Other Pierce family members

Box 34   Folder 10

Other Pierce family members

Box 34   Folder 11

Friends and colleagues of BLP

Box 34   Folder 12

Pierce family houses

Box 34   Folder 13

Jackson & Pierce store

Series VI: Addenda

Box 35   Folder 1

Correspondence, Bessie L. Pierce to Perry Duis, October 25, 1966-December 31, 1967

Box 35   Folder 2

A History of Chicago, maps of brewing families and brewery locations, 1891-1916

Box 35   Folder 3

A History of Chicago, Volume III, "Chicago as a Livestock and Meat Packing Center, 1893-1915," chapter draft with notes and editorial revisions

Box 35   Folder 4

A History of Chicago, Volume IV, "Politics," condensed version (79 pages plus appendixes), original, includes critique by Charles E. Merriam, n.d

Box 35   Folder 5

A History of Chicago, Volume IV, "Politics," condensed version (79 pages plus appendixes), carbon copy

Box 35   Folder 6

Correspondence